HANC's monthly (except August) general membership meeting is usually held downstairs at the Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street (between Cole and Shrader) on the second Thursday of the month, beginning at 7 pm.Our meetinngs are open to the public and free to attend.

This month at HANC the results of the November 2018 election will be presented and their meaning discussed.

The 82% turnout in the neighborhood set a modern-day record for voter enthusiasm in a non-presidential year and vastly exceeded the 58% neighborhood turnout for June's Mayoral election. Citywide turnout was 74.5%--a total of 373,000 votes cast--itself a record for a Governor’s election, only exceeded by the election in 1914 when 83% of San Francisco's voters turned out.

November’s Citywide turnout exceeded the 53% June Mayor’s race turnout (253,000 votes cast) with an astounding 120,000 more San Franciscans casting their votes in November than in June.

What a wild ride?!?! From a sprint to gather signatures to put Our City Our Home on the November ballot, to the heavy lifting of field mobilization, and an October surprise of dueling billionaires, Prop C was a historic win for homelessness advocates and their constituents. Finishing with nearly 62% of the vote, the ballot measure won decidedly but shy of the two thirds to make it lawsuit proof.

The RFP (Request for Proposals) for the interim use of the former McDonald's site at 730 Stanyan, is due to be released December 14. Due to the holidays, the normal 30-day period for submission of Proposals has been extended to February 28. HANC is a member of the Coalition for a Complete Community, a neighborhood coalition that is developing proposals for both interim and final affordable housing. Let us know if you have expertise and / or interest in helping develop the proposal.

Editor’s Note: In July, 2014, the Planning Department issued a Preliminary Project Assessment regarding the conversion of the Boys and Girls Club at 1950 Page Street to a performing arts school. The proposal was to add one story to the building, resulting in a three-story building. It is unclear what happened to this application, but the site was converted to a performing arts school (at first Fei Tan Academy, and now Xian Yun Academy of the Arts).

Prop C has passed but the funds won’t be released to build shelters until any potential legal challenges are resolved. That means it could be 2-3 years before real solutions of increased shelter and housing capacity are implemented. Mayor Breed aims to open 1000 more shelter beds but that will barely scratch the surface of the real need and there is a real concern what quality of shelters will be provided.

In the meantime, an inquiry at the Community Police Advisory Board this past month confirmed that Park Police Station continues to aggressively enforce Sit/Lie despite legal questions. Captain Bailey said that Police continue to cite individuals for sitting or lying on public sidewalks despite quality shelter beds being unavailable.

From early 2019, the stub of Arguello Boulevard that runs west of Kezar Stadium will be closed to regular traffic. The city’s departments of Public Works and Recreation and Parks have agreed to work together to reconfigure this block of Arguello, north of the Lincoln Way/Frederick Street intersection.

In exchange for the temporary use of the portion of Waller Street between Stanyan Street and the skate park as a staging for its ongoing Haight Street project, DPW will resurface the dead-end block of Arguello and install a swing gate to limit access to authorized vehicles only. The resurfacing work is scheduled to happen before December 31, 2018.

Tim Redmond, of 48Hills and SF Bay Guardian, has been a longtime supporter of HANC and has been a speaker and panelist at our meetings numerous times throughout the years on many topics. Congratulations, Tim on your award!

The awards ceremony took place on November 15. The SF Press Club announced its Lifetime Achievement Award days before the ceremony with this announcement:

HANC’s November membership meeting heard about the Exploratorium’s plans to bring interactive science exhibits to the Alvord Lake area of Golden Gate Park next year. Steve Gennrich, project director with the organization’s Studio for Public Spaces, explained how they had arrived at the half-dozen prototypes they’re currently testing.

Kristen Leckie, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Community Organizer for the Haight, and Natasha Opfell, Community Organizer for Walk SF, presented the latest information from their organizations about plans related to Vision Zero. There were no surprises about upcoming efforts from either organization (i.e. no push to move bike lanes onto Fell and Oak between Baker and Stanyan).

Much of the presentation was high-level overview of what both organizations do in the city. Questions were asked specifically about Masonic/Fell and the Baker Street corridor. At this time the best efforts to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety is creating better visibility at corners (removing parking spaces), and education.

For our October general meeting, we had scheduled arguments by proponents and opponents of Propositions C and D, and a discussion of Senate Bill 1045, which provides for conservatorship of those detained multiple times. Opponents of Proposition C were invited, but did not make an appearance.

Cannabis Dispensary Applicants

During our announcements, representatives from Cole Ashbury Group, LLC, introduced themselves and announced that the Office of Cannabis had selected them to move forward with their application for a dispensary at 1685 Haight Street (currently Silver Sprocket). Representatives from Haight Partners, Inc., who had submitted an application for a dispensary at 1673 Haight Street (currently Stanza Coffee Bar), also introduced themselves.